The countdown on the Roberts Space Industries Website has concluded, and we have word that Star Citizen as the new game from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, which will indeed be a new PC-only space combat simulation. The game will be crowd funded through a link on the website, though at the moment this is still asking for a login from their whole viral countdown dealie (enter "42"). Word is that the game has been in development at Robert's LA-based Cloud Imperium Games for the past year, and while it will not be complete for another couple of years, they intend to have a playable version in the hands of their backers in about a year. Here's the Announcement Trailer and here's word:

Chris Roberts, who helped define the space sim genre in computer games during the 1990s with his Wing Commander® and Privateer® franchises, is back in the cockpit again with a new title he says will change the way people perceive games for the PC and will breathe new life into space combat games. The new game, Star Citizen™, was officially announced today at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Online taking place at the Austin Convention Center. The game is being developed by Roberts’ Cloud Imperium™ Games studio, located in Los Angeles.

Roberts’ re-entry into gaming comes after he spent more than a decade as a director and producer in the Hollywood film industry. In 1990, he introduced Wing Commander to the world of PC gaming and the franchise went on to sell millions of units and spawned multiple sequels, a feature film and another highly successful game franchise, Privateer.

Star Citizen, already 12 months into production, will be launched on the PC and will include all the Chris Roberts hallmarks that fans of his games have come to expect over the years: high quality cutting-edge visuals and technology, a virtual world that is immersive and detailed, a sophisticated storyline that is wide in scope and visceral, heart-pounding space combat.

“In recent years, game designers have stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you can do in this genre,” says Roberts. “I plan on bringing that kind of development mentality back into PC gaming and space sims in particular.

“There is a lot of noise out there regarding social and mobile games right now, and I think PC gamers are feeling a little left out of the mix. But the PC is still incredibly capable of presenting an experience that doesn’t take a back seat to any other platform out there, including consoles. With my game, I want PC gamers to stand up, be counted and get excited again about all the great experiences their computer can deliver.”

At GDC Online Roberts also announced a program to bring his devotees and other interested parties much closer to the development process. A crowd funding site has been posted at www.robertsspaceindustries.com to help raise the necessary funds for completing development of the project. “Our purpose today,” said Roberts, “is to allow our fans to join us in this process early. It will likely be another two years before the full product is ready for release, but early backers will be able to play a version of the game a year from now.

“We are taking this approach to fund-raising for several reasons,” said Roberts. “For one, this route takes the traditional game publisher out of the mix and enables us to take the millions of dollars normally used by publishers for a triple-A title and plow them right back into developing the game. Secondly, using our own crowd funding mechanism allows us to reach out to our international fans, who have been devoted followers of my games in the past. Thirdly, going direct gets us much closer to our fans and allows us to focus more on the community side, create more updates for our fans and directly interact with them as we are making the game.”

Star Citizen, still in early development stages, will not require a subscription, but will not be free-to-play either. Roberts says the game will be available for a one-time purchase. And while players will be able to play in the Star Citizen universe for free, there will also be virtual items available for purchase with in-game credits so players can customize their ships and other items.

I actually don't care that much about graphics or real physics. What I care about is actual exploration, a living universe and rewarding progression.

As do I, but at the moment we're limited to only a handful of sims - X, Evochron, and whatever Mr. Derek Smartypants is scheming with this month. And out of those, I'll take X any day of the week...including Sunday. The series has progressed so far since it's early beginnings and with the mods that have been released, it's about as good as you're going to get until something revolutionary comes along. Is Star Citizen it? I have no idea and no one else does either. I certainly hope so and I hope that it succeeds well enough to make other publishers and dev studios sit up and take notice that there IS room for space-sims in this industry. If there can be a frackin' street-sweeping simulation, there can be kick-ass, open-world Elite-style space trading combat sims...

And speaking of Elite, you all are aware that there is a kick-ass patch/mod for Elite3 that brings it's graphics engine into the modern era, right? Just look for D3D Frontier Elite (FED3D) and the Java version also. I've been playing it on and off for months and it's just SO much better than the original graphics-wise plus there's a mod-loader app with many mods for it as well. Check it out if you itching for something else...

'Who am I?...I am the right hand of vengeance and the boot that is going to kick your sorry ass all the way back to Earth, sweetheart! I am death incarnate, and the last living thing that you are EVER going to see. GOD sent me.'